The all party delegation which is in Jammu and Kashmir made attempts to meet with the separatists but were turned down amidst sloganeering. “Don’t come to us, go see for yourself what the situation,” is what Yasin Mallik had to say.
CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury, CPI leader D. Raja, JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav and the RJD’s Jay Prakash Narayan were the ones part of the delegation that met with the separatists. The leaders first attempted to meet with Mallik who is lodged in the Srinagar central jail. What is there to talk when the Home Minister says that talks should be held within the ambit of the Indian Constitution. Go look outside instead of coming to me, Mallik told the leaders.
No talks under ambit of Indian constitution: Mallik said that talks cannot be held under the ambit of the Indian Constitution. It is our policy that we shall not talk under the ambit of the Indian Constitution, Mallik also said before turning away the leaders. You are part of a larger delegation led by the Home Minister who wants to talk under the ambit of the Indian Constitution and this is not possible for us, Mallik also said. At the residence of S Geelani, the delegation was made to wait for 10 minutes. Geelani who is under house arrest at his Hyderapora residence refused to meet with the leaders. He sent word to the leaders that he did not want to talk. He refused to budge when the leaders sent word stating that only talks are the way forward. The group then called on former Hurriyat Conference chief, Prof Abdul Ghani Bhat. He told the leaders that he felt for them. I feel for you, but I cannot help it, he also said. He later on said that he gave the leaders the respect as they had come this far, but talks were not going to take place while adding that delegation’s visit was a futile exercise.
(Sourced from agencies, Feature image courtesy:oneindia.com)
